Breakdown of Työnantaja on joustamaton ja vaatii, että kaikki palaisivat toimistoon.
olla
to be
ja
and
toimisto
office
palata
to return
että
that (conjunction)
kaikki
all, everything, everyone
vaatia
to claim (demand)
työnantaja
the employer
joustamaton
inflexible
Questions & Answers about Työnantaja on joustamaton ja vaatii, että kaikki palaisivat toimistoon.
Why is palaisivat in the conditional mood when the English translation just says 'return'?
The main clause uses vaatii (demands). In Finnish, verbs of demanding, proposing, or suggesting (like vaatia or ehdottaa) often require the conditional mood in the following että clause. This expresses that the action is a desired outcome rather than a guaranteed fact.
Why does kaikki palaisivat use a plural verb ending (-vat) when 'everyone' is singular in English?
In Finnish, when kaikki refers to people collectively, it acts as a plural pronoun. Therefore, it requires the plural third-person verb ending, unlike English where 'everyone' takes a singular verb.
How is the adjective joustamaton (inflexible) formed?
It is built from the verb joustaa (to stretch, flex, or yield). The suffix -maton is a negative participle ending that turns a verb into an adjective meaning 'without doing' or 'unable to do'. So joustamaton literally means 'unyielding'.
What verb type is palata and how is the conditional stem formed here?
Palata (to return) is a type 4 verb. To form the conditional, you take the strong stem found in the third-person singular (palaa), drop the final vowel to get pala-, and add the conditional marker -isi- followed by the personal plural ending -vat.
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